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DROP now in City Council's hands

City Council took the first step toward killing Philadelphia's DROP retirement program by introducing a bill on Mayor Nutter's behalf to end the perk. The legislation may go nowhere because Council members have not reached any concensus about whether to eliminate the Deferred Retirement Option Program, which lets city employees retire with a large lump sum payment and their pensions at a lower amount.

Majority Leader Marian B. Tasco introduced the bill.

The effort to eliminate DROP also is expected to run into legal challenges from the city's unions, who say laws protecting pensions apply to this benefit.

See the documents proposing the ordinance.

In a related development, Charles McPherson, the former Chief Financial Officer for City Council who became a controversial symbol of problems in the city's DROP retirement program, has won a new contract to provide financial consulting services to the city.

McPherson collected his DROP payment and then came back as an adviser, spurring criticism because DROP enrollees are supposed to retire.

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